The use of inhalation devices in the administration of medicaments, for example in bronchodilation therapy, is well known.
Dry powder inhalation devices are known which comprise a body or housing within which a blister or pocket-containing medicament pack is located. Such medicament packs may comprise a base sheet in which the blister or pocket is formed and a lid sheet which covers the pocket/blister. Typically the drug is accessed from the blister or pocket by peeling back or rupturing a section of the lid sheet to expose the medicament within the blister/pocket. Rupturing the lid sheet may result in some fragmentation at the point of rupture. Inhalation devices which employ peeling mechanisms to remove the lid sheet avoid this potential problem. However such inhalation devices often require complicated internal mechanisms to peel the lid sheet away from the base sheet.
It is desirable that the inhalation device is simple for the user to operate. It is also desirable that dry powder inhalation devices are not too bulky so that the user may carry their device with them at all times, if required, and are not too embarrassed to use the device in public.
The Applicants have now developed an improved medicament pack from which medicament can be accessed by a simple peeling action not requiring the use of an inhalation device with a complicated internal mechanism.
The Applicants have also found that the medicament pack can be used in conjunction with an inhalation device which may be operated with one hand and requires the performance of a single step to access the medicament. The inhalation device is therefore simple to use and the one-handed action improves the ease of use for patients, particularly for children, the elderly and disabled.
A further advantage of the medicament pack is that it is adaptable so that it may contain a unit dose for use in a single use disposable inhaler or be a multi-dose pack containing a number of discrete doses without requiring an unacceptably large inhalation device. The size and bulk of the device is limited by the use of an integral mouthpiece which does not significantly protrude from the device.
WO 99/27987 describes a dry powder inhaler with a slider for incrementally advancing a blister disc and for moving a lifter up a ramp to rupture the blister. The device however is made up of many different components and has a complex structure.